Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
by Merlindamage
Summary: We know that Sirius played a joke that nearly cost Snape his life. But something else happened that night. Lily was forced to make a choice and see the two men who loved her for what they had become.


The full moon hung low in the sky. Its reflection, along with that of the many stars, shimmered on the dark waters of a large lake. A soft breeze rippled across the grass, moving flowers and grass.

A tall slim boy with jet black raven colored hair stood hunched over. His hazel eyes were unfocused behind his glasses and he was breathing heavily. Lying next to him on the floor was the unconscious body of one of his school mates.

James Potter had come down out of the castle just a few moments earlier. His best friend, Sirius Black, had informed him of a prank that he was playing on their arch nemesis, Severus Snape. One of their other friends was a werewolf, and Sirius thought it would be funny to send Severus to go and see the transformation. Upon hearing this, James raced to save his enemy. Though the two hated one another, nothing Severus had done to him in the past seven years had made him worthy of the grizzly fate that awaited him if he were to enter the Shrieking Shack that night.

Upon arriving at the path to the Shrieking Shack, James encountered Severus. The two men had argued as Severus was desperate to make his way further. He wanted to out Lupin for what he really was, and he was determined not to let anyone stop him. In the end, James had to Stun Severus and drag him back to the grounds.

James toppled backwards onto the grass and looked up at the castle. Many inside were sleeping now, and thank goodness he was Head Boy, otherwise he might have to explain what he was doing out so late. He felt a lump arise in his throat as he noticed a lantern bobbing down the hill towards him.

The carrier of the lantern soon made her presence known as she arrived at the bottom of the hill. Even against the darkness of the night, her fair skin seemed to have some sort of ethereal glow. Hey hair was vibrant red and radiant. Her green eyes were like deep wells.

"James," came the voice of the Head Girl, "what's wrong?" she asked, kneeling at his side.

"I'm just a little winded," he said, getting back to his feet. He noticed her eyes dart to the unconscious figure on the ground.

"Sev?" she called, kneeling down and checking to make sure he was breathing. She then rounded on James and there was now a fire in her eyes. "What did you do, James Potter?"

He looked up at her incredulously. His own eyes widened and he felt that familiar pang in his chest that he felt when he would see her. The joyful feeling quickly vanished and was replaced with anger. "What the bloody hell do you mean?" he asked, walking towards her. "I saved his ruddy life, is what I did," he said.

He then went on to explain about the joke Sirius was trying to play on the Slytherin. He made sure to mention that he had no part in it and had only come down with the intention of saving the man's life from a certain death.

"So then why is he unconscious?" asked Lily, her tone had softened quite a bit.

"He wouldn't come back with me quietly," James explained. "He was too determined to prove what Remus really is. I had to stun him." He paused and looked into her eyes. "Lily, I've grown up a lot. I'm not the same little kid who pushed you off your broom in first year."

She looked at the young man standing before her and almost didn't recognize him. Though physically he looked almost the same, she realized that he had grown so much. If this had been the James Potter of a few months ago, Severus would have surely lost his life this night. "I can see," was all she could muster up. She stepped closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She leaned in closer to his face.

"I should murder you!" boomed the voice of Severus Snape.

Neither James nor Lily had noticed the man get up off the ground. He was not pointing his wand at James and a menacing look in his eyes gave him the appearance of a crazy person.

"I saved your bloody life," yelled James in return. "Can I at least get a ruddy thanks before you point your bloody wand at me?!"

"Saved my life?" Severus looked shocked. "You did no such thing. You're probably going to run up to the school now and tell everyone that that is what you did, just so you can get some more recognition. You are nothing more than an arrogant, attention craving arse." His black eyes were lit up by the light of the lantern and he did not seem to notice Lily standing there.

"Sirius was right," said James. "Maybe I should have let you get to the end of that tunnel. It'd be you're luck to die in the Shrieking Shack." He paused and looked down at Severus' wand and saw sparks fly from the tip. He was not deterred though. "I had no idea about what was going on until he told me. You're lucky that I had the decency to come and save you."

"Lucky? You just didn't want to get expelled," he said. "You knew that if something happened to me, you and you're little group would be the first and only suspects."

"I'm Head Boy!" yelled James. "I cannot let my friends do as they please, especially not when I'm a figure of authority around here. I've grown up. Maybe you should do the same…_Snivellus_."

"_Levicorpus!_" yelled Severus. Both he and Lily watched as James was hoisted high into the air. He floated there as though some invisible Troll was holding him by his ankles. In the blink of an eye, James had pulled out his wand and pointed it at Severus.

"_Sectumsempra_!" The spell did not his Severus head on, and James had not intended it to. The spell his Severus' wand arm and cut right through his robes. Blood began to spew from the deep gash and Severus fell backwards, now nursing his wound with his good hand.

Lily stood in the middle of the two. When James had thudded to the ground, a loud crack had sounded and she was sure he had broken a bone. He was howling in pain and nursing his leg. He tried to stand, but could not do so on his own. She began to walk to his side, but was stopped by a voice.

"Lily…please," pleaded Severus. He sounded desperate, much more so than he should. She realized that he was pleading for much more than for her to come to his side. She had always had a feeling, and her intuition was always right. She knew that Severus had wanted to be more than friends with her, and when she was younger, she had toyed with the possibility of letting something happen between then. But then things changed, and so did he. He became a Death Eater, and there was no turning back from that.

She looked at him, staring into his eyes and noticed certain warmth in them that she only saw when he would look at her. She felt a twinge of something that she couldn't identify but the feeling subsided quickly.

"Sev," she began slowly, and to her own surprise, he voice began to crack, "I'm sorry, James needs me."

"Lily…I need you," he pleaded with her, staring into her eyes trying to will her to come to him.

"Sev…" she tried but there was too much to be said. She took a deep breath and turned to James. She helped him off the ground and he put his arm over her shoulders. The two began to hobble back to the castle. In the darkness, James did not notice the tear Lily let from her eyes. She took one look back at Severus, his face partially lit by the lantern, and she kept moving.


End file.
